


A 21st Century Future

by MrToddWilkins (orphan_account)



Series: My AH.com timelines [6]
Category: Alternate History - Fandom - Fandom
Genre: Timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:26:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 6,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27334891
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/MrToddWilkins
Series: My AH.com timelines [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1978813





	1. A Death in Afghanistan

**14 June 1985, 10:56 GMT  
34.96 North, 69.19 East, near Charikar, Afghanistan**  
  
“Qayid (1)!The 21st Corps is on the road.”  
“I’ll be there in a few minutes”  
Usama cursed lightly as he rolled off the log and switched off his radio. _What is this life,but mistakes and malfunctions engineered by God for His amusement?_ The war was not going in their favor. The dreaded Soviets were pushing deeper into Afghanistan. The capital of Kabul itself was now threatened,essentially besieged since last winter.  
  
At first,Usama had seen the war as offering a new hope for the _mujahideen._ A new chance to establish a government untainted by the legacy of greed and appeasement the dead monarchy had reveled in. _God punished them because they did not follow His plan for the world. They were weak and greedy,no better than Russia under the Czars. As revolution swept them away in 1917,so it happened here in 1973. I remember those days. How we danced in the streets,drank the drinks our faith usually forbids,sang songs that would otherwise get our tongues cut out._  
_  
And then the Russians swept out of the north like a nest of Yemeni vipers. They trapped our people in the hill fastnesses,bombed us by night and by day. Three years we endured,praying to God for relief. Relief came,in the form of American and British aid. Daily paratroop drops,as though manna was being delivered from Heaven like in the old stories. For a while it seemed that we might win. By November 1983,our patrols could even see the Tajiki border.  
  
But then,the winds of war shifted. That man Reagan became a friend of the cursed Soviets,and they had a leadership change as well:Brezhnev gave way to Andropov,and now Gorbachev (2). Aid ceased,and by night or day none of our forces are safe. With new-type MiGs the DOSAAF now has air superiority that they never enjoyed before. Even our capital of Kabul is under siege. What hope is there if the flag of Moscow flies over Kabul? The cradle of civilization will lie open to Red influence. Arabian oil,Omani textiles and air bases,the holy places in Israel,all will be threatened (3). The road to India,the breadbasket of the world,will lie open.  
  
But as long as I live,and honor the memory of fallen Hamid (4),there will be hope.  
_  
Sighing,Usama shouldered the old German gun and climbed out of the foxhole.  
  
———-  
  
Private Eduard Chuikov (5) was not a man of the world. A native of Orenburg,recruited at his 19th birthday last year,he was a tankman of the 21st Corps (Orenburg),reporting to Major Strogolshikov in Herat. He was engaged to Serena Kovalyonok back home,and couldn’t wait to return to her. If Kabul was in the Motherland’s hands soon,he might.  
  
The road was quiet down towards Parwan,and had been since Sunday. The _mujahideen_ were not out in force lately,having retreated behind the defenses surrounding Kabul. They had to know that their cause was lost,didn’t they?  
  
All of a sudden,Chuikov saw a tall man with a beard like iron wire straggling down the road,shouldering an old rusty rifle of German make. He was plainly sweating. _He is in obvious misery,_ Chuikov thought. _I must relieve him._  
  
He fired his own rifle. The man sagged,then fell. Another shot,a _coup de grace,_ and the man lay dead.  
  
“Private? What’s going on?”, yelled Sergeant-Engineer Prokopyev behind him. He and a man from Division had seemingly materialized out of nowhere.  
  
“Some young _mujahideen,_ doubtlessly out to earn glory in bin Laden’s name.”  
  
He turned the body over.  
  
“ _Bozhe moi!”_  
  
———-  
  
1-according to Google Translate, the Arabic word for ‘Brigadier’  
  
2-For the purposes of this TL,Chernenko doesn’t exist  
  
3-bin Laden does not know of _glasnost_ and _perestroika  
_  
4-<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamid_Gul>  
  
5-all of the named Russians here are OCs


	2. Reactions

**14 June 1985, 18:00 EDT  
New York  
**  
“Good evening,and welcome to NBC Nightly News. I’m Tom Brokaw. Our top story tonight,by way of _Le Journal,_ is the apparent death of Afghan rebel leader Osama bin Laden in the Afghan town of Parwan. According to sources high up in Soviet intelligence,bin Laden died while defending the Kabul road. His killer was 20 year old Red Army private Eduard N.Chuikov,from Orenburg in the RSFSR.”  
  
————-  
  
 **15 June 1985, 06:30 GMT  
10 Downing Street, London  
**  
Margaret Thatcher sat in bed,rubbing her tired eyes and praying that this wasn’t a dream. Was bin Laden really dead? If this was true,there were huge implications for the Soviet-Afghan War. With the chief _mujahideen_ leader since the death of Hamid Gul last November himself dead,the Soviets would now be in a good position to negotiate a peace. _A Soviet peace,but a peace nonetheless. Let us hope that Gorbachev will be willing to negotiate._  
 _  
—————_  
  
 **20 June 1985, 12:50 MST  
Tsarskaya Tower  
**  
Private Chuikov was shown into the KGB office by a grubby sergeant of perhaps sixty. “Vitali Vasilivitch will see you now.”  
  
Chuikov gulped. Vitali Fedorchuk had a fearsome reputation. People spoke in whispers of the “Ukrainian Lion’s” powers of silencing you with a mere wave of his meaty hand,of his propensity for British wines,and his prowess at Khalkhin Gol,not necessarily in that order. The graying man,who had been Chairman of the KGB for just over three years now,sat behind an ancient desk.  
  
“So this is the man who killed bin Laden,I’m told.”  
  
“Yes,sir.”  
  
“How did you react?”  
  
“With surprise. It’s not every day one gets to kill a prominent Afghan rebel leader,sir.”  
  
“And because of this our forces are now at an advantage. Afghanistan is now in _our_ hands. The Motherland owes you much,Private. Anyways,how long did it take you to get back to the capital?”  
  
“Three days,sir. I took a British helicopter to Herat,a cargo transport to Istanbul,and another cargo transport here via Donetsk.”  
  
“Would you be willing to be transferred to Public Relations?”  
  
“Yes,sir.”  
  
“Good. You start next week. Report to Captain Malyshev,the one whose uncle is a _kosmonaut.”_


	3. Improving the Soviet military

From _Red Crescent:a history of Soviet and Russian interference in the Middle East,_ by Charlotte Skeoch (2020):  
  
In the autumn of 1985,Mikhail Gorbachev stood at the top of an empire that straddled northern Asia,Central Asia,and Eastern Europe like the proverbial colossus. The Red Army held more than two-thirds of Afghanistan in fee,and was working on eliminating _mujahideen_ power in the southern hills. Life in the capital city of Kabul had settled down to an extent. The Soviet occupation authorities still permitted the free exercise of Islam and other religions,but forbade military operations in the name of said religions. The city’s newspapers were allowed greater freedom in what to print. By 1987,no less than twenty new schools had opened. Women’s rights were advancing at a steady pace. A new road system was under development,designed to link the whole country by 1994.  
  
But there were still problems with the greater Soviet military. Fully a third of Soviet Air Force units still flew their planes with the aid of electronics systems devised in the late 1960s or early 1970s. The Army’s tanks still relied on ‘hunt-and-hold’ barrel aiming techniques last popular ten or more years before. The communications chain of command still relied on _Cosmos 1075_ class satellites with store-and-forward data relay. It was painfully obvious that things needed to change.  
  
In June 1986,riding the coattails of the end of the 27th Communist Party Congress,the Conference on Improvement of Civil Defense began. The conference lasted five months,and featured no less than 160 speeches on a variety of subjects. On January 22,1987,the conference’s chairpeople issued their recommendations:  
\- Use the new _Cosmos 1730_ satellites for data relay beginning in 1989.  
\- Adopt the widespread use of new TsK-12 computers in tactical battle simulations and relaying of advice to battlefield commanders.  
\- Commission six new classes of naval vessel,including the new _Yantar_ light aircraft carrier class (beginning in 1992).  
\- Overhaul aircraft electronics and control systems thoroughly.  
\- Commission new tank types more resistant to heat,bullet,and missile damage.  
\- Establish chains of communication for civilian contractors.


	4. ACCESS all areas with EASE

**29 November 1985, 02:20 CST**  
 **In low Earth orbit**  
  
 _Music:The Bangles, ‘Manic Monday’_  
  
240 miles above his home planet,Jerry Ross was enjoying the view of Africa when the call came.  
  
“Atlantis,Houston,through TDRS-West for Jerry. EV2 reports that he is Go for egress”.  
  
“Copy that. How are you,Woody?”  
  
“I’m fine”, Sherwood Spring replied from inside the orbiter. “Still can’t believe I’m about to play space foreman”.  
  
“Me neither,buddy. Come on out,the air’s fine.”  
  
“Or the lack of it”, Spring said as he floated into Atlantis’ cavernous payload bay.  
  
“Can it,boys. You’ve got work to do”, Bryan called from the aft flight deck,where he was manning the arm controls.   
  
The work ahead of them was the construction of EASE/ACCESS,the Experimental Assembly of Structures in EVA and Assembly Concept for Construction of Erectable Space Structures. It was a pair of experiments designed by NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama to assess how quickly a space station could be built. EASE was a tetrahedron and ACCESS a vertical column. The former would occupy the two astronauts during this EVA,the latter during a second EVA planned for two days hence.  
  
————  
  
To his surprise,Jerry found that assembly was taking less time than expected. The Sun was shining through the truss when Capcom called a halt.   
  
“By the way,boys,the Soviets just announced that their Space Shuttle will make its first flight sometime in the summer of ‘88.”  
  
“Sounds wonderful. They really do need it.”  
  
The rest of the assembly,as they say,was ‘copacetic’. After five and a half hours,two tired but happy astronauts returned to Atlantis.


	5. Manned spaceflights in the second half of 1985

**June 6-September 26,1985**  
Soyuz T-13 (Dzhanibekov,Savinykh). Repair mission to Salyut 7. Crew performed an EVA to assist in station repair,and received two Progress resupply ships,including the curiously designated Cosmos 1669.  
  
 **June 17-24,1985**  
STS-51G (Brandenstein,Creighton,Fabian,Nagel,Lucid,Chretien,Al-Saud). First Saudi in space:first royalty in space. Featured the deployment of three communications satellites. First use of the Spartan free flyer.  
  
 **July 29-August 6,1985**  
STS-51F (Fullerton,Bridges,Henize,Musgrave,England,Simon,Prinz). First launch “abort” in Shuttle history. Spacelab 2 payload:first use of Spacelab pallet.  
  
 **August 27-September 3,1985**  
STS-51I (Engle,Covey,van Hoften,Fisher,Lounge). Repaired the Leasat 3 satellite,and deployed the Leasat 4 satellite.  
  
 **September 17,1985-January 24,1986**  
Soyuz T-14 (Vasyutin,Volkov,Grechko). Grechko returned to Earth with Dzhanibekov. Received the Cosmos 1686 research module on October 2,1985. Crew performed three EVAs.   
  
**October 3-7,1985**  
STS-51J (Bobko,Grabe,Hilmers,Stewart,Pailes). First flight of the space shuttle _Atlantis._ Deployed the first DSCS 3 military communications satellites.  
  
 **October 30-November 6,1985**  
STS-61A (Hartsfield,Nagel,Dunbar,McCandless,Bluford,Furrer,Messerschmid,Ockels). First spaceflight with eight people onboard. Crew conducted an international research program.  
  
 **November 27-December 8,1985**  
STS-61B (Shaw,O’Connor,Ross,Cleave,Spring,Walker,Neri Vela). Ross and Spring performed two EVAs,during which they assembled and operated the EASE-ACCESS space construction experiment. Neri Vela was the first Mexican in space. Three communications satellites were deployed.  
  
 **January 12-18,1986**  
STS-61C (Gibson,Bolden,Nelson,Hawley,Chang-Diaz,Nelson,Jarvis). Bill Nelson became the first sitting politician in space. Jarvis supervised the deployment of a communications satellite for RCA.


	6. The Black Cauldron and Space Camp

_The Black Cauldron_ was an intellectual property that was close to the hearts of Disney’s animation team. Since Walt Disney’s death in 1966 (and before as well),the studio’s animated film repertoire had withered,from an average of one per 9 months in 1950 to one per 38 months by 1980. Although _The Fox and the Hound,_ which came out on July 10,1981,revived the genre somewhat,it was to be hoped that _The Black Cauldron_ would continue that trend.

_Cauldron_ and its three sequels, _The Castle of Llyr_ (1989), _Taran Wanderer_ (1993),and _The High King_ (1998),all live action films produced by Disney,are based upon the Chronicles of Prydain,a pentalogy of young adult fantasy novels written by Lloyd Alexander between 1964 and 1968. The books concern the rise of Taran,a boy living in the mystical kingdom of Prydain in the distant past,from Assistant Pig-Keeper at Caer Dallben to High King of all Prydain, as well as the war between the noble Sons of Don and Arawn Death-Lord,a demonic king who possesses the magical sword Dyrnwyn.

Disney bought the film rights to the Prydain series in 1971,but film tech improvement and financial issues delayed the start of production to 1979. Casting happened in 1983,and the film featured a star voice cast for its time:

Grant Bardsley as Taran  
Susan Sheridan as Princess Eilonwy of Mona  
Peter Woodthorpe as Gurgi,a half-dwarf (1) who aids Taran on his quest to destroy the Cauldron and its possessor,the Horned King  
Alec Guinness as the Horned King  
John Travolta as Glew,a friendly giant who has travelled through all of Prydain  
Brian May as Eiddileg XVI,king of the Dwarves  
Scott Glenn as Doli,a Dwarven watcher  
John Hurt as Dallben,the master of Caer Dallben and Taran’s adopted father  
Phil Brown as Fflewdur Fflam,the bard king of Spiral Castle (2)

The film came out on January 14,1986,to much critical acclaim. Lloyd Alexander himself stated “Although this film wasn’t necessarily my story,it was a good story in and of itself.”

————-

Another film from this era worth examining is _Space Camp_ ,which came out on October 10,1986. _Space Camp_ is a space adventure film inspired by the real US Space Camp in Huntsville,Alabama. There was some controversy over its release in the wake of the _Challenger_ disaster,which delayed said release.

The plot centers around four teenagers who are attending a new Space Camp at Kennedy Space Center in Florida,and their adventures after they and their astronaut instructor are accidentally launched into orbit on the experimental space shuttle _Pegasus._ One of the film’s highlights is the avant-garde score by veteran film composer John Williams. The cast included:

Kate Capshaw as Andie Wickman,the first woman to walk on the Moon,now an astronaut instructor at Space Camp  
Lane Smith as Zach Bergstrom,her mentor in the astronaut corps  
Tate Donovan as Kevin Donaldson,a rich kid whose dad is designing a space reconnaissance system for the Navy  
Lea Thompson as Kathy Farley,who idolizes Andie and wants to be the first female shuttle commander  
Larry Scott as Rudy Tyler,who loves science, but admits he is sometimes not very good at it.  
Julie Brown as Tricia Ambrose,a Valley Girl whose stereotypical appearance belies a smart personality and desire to someday go to Mars  
Joaquin Phoenix as Max Bergstrom,Zach’s grandson who tags along with the rest of the team  
Mark Hamill as Gennady Markovik,a Soviet cosmonaut whose wayward lunar capsule is rescued by the crew of the _Pegasus  
_  
1-we never actually learn just _what_ Gurgi is,so Disney makes up the idea of him being half dwarf

2-a combination of Fflewdur and Gwydion,a books-only character


	7. John Belushi

By 1981, John Belushi was a shadow of his former self. The 33 year old comedian had a drug history stretching back well more than a decade. Although he had left SNL 3 years earlier,he missed it, especially in that it had provided the perfect showcase for his comedic talent.

In December 1981,upon the recommendation of his brother Jim,Belushi checked into a rehab facility in Albuquerque. He took a 6 month course of treatment that included food-administered methadone,a exercise regimen that he would describe in a 2006 interview as ‘vigorous’,and community focus,which involved him working as a staffer at a local nursing home.

Belushi left the facility in August 1982 with a clean bill of health,returning to LA later that year. In the summer of 1983,he announced that he was to play the lead in a Coneheads movie,to be released in late 1985.

After some production difficulties,the _Coneheads_ movie premiered on September 7,1986. Belushi starred as El’ Beldar,one of the last of the Clorovi race,alongside Ali MacGraw,who played his wife Ea’ Prymaat. On Earth their characters,whose UFO is shot down by an experimental orbital weapons platform,take the names of Bruce and Paula Conehead. They learn from another hidden Clorovi (Jim Belushi) about the destruction of their home world of Remulak Prime by the insectoid Jaara,and settle down in Chicago. Most of the movie focuses on Beldar formulating a biological warfare revenge scheme against the Jaara,aided by a rogue general named Arthur Collins (Randolph Mantooth).

Belushi resumed his SNL career in early 1987,playing the bumbling Soviet traffic cop Grigori Vladirski in a series of sketches that parodied the incompetence beneath the surface of the labyrinthine Soviet bureaucracy.


	8. Russia’s next steps in space

**17 July 1986, 09:00 MST  
**  
 _From ‘The Speeches of Yuri Semenov’ (NPO Energia, 2018)  
_  
Comrades,yesterday marked the successful return of the first crew to occupy our space station Mir, The expedition was successful not only because of the commissioning of Mir,but also because of the temporary restoration of our old space laboratory,Salyut 7. Much work has been accomplished with regards to the study of the human organism in space.  
  
So what is next? Early next year we propose to fly the new carrier rocket Energia for the first time. Originally,Energia was to carry the Polyus automated observation platform into space. However,recent discussions within the Party have rendered this plan obsolete. Instead,Energia will carry a dummy payload to space,a mass simulator of the Kristall add-on laboratory module. The module will carry sensors to analyze the local space environment. It is intended to operate for 30 days,in an orbit of 430 by 550 kilometers inclined 61 degrees to the equator.  
  
In the same time period,cosmonauts Romanenko and Laveikin will become the first permanent resident crew on Mir. They will receive the Kvant add-on module,with telescopes for optical astronomy and a docking port for Progress resupply vessels. Two spacewalks will be undertaken to deploy and calibrate the auxiliary solar array on the core module,enabling 8 kW of extra power.   
  
Further on,assembly work proceeds on the Phobos spacecraft. These robotic explorers are being prepared for the Mars launch window in the summer of 1988. They will be used to study the moons of Mars,which have never before received a dedicated study. Mars itself will also be studied by the probes.  
  
With the productive capability added to Mir by Kristall from 1989 onwards,we propose to return material samples to Earth. This will be accomplished by the Raduga capsules,essentially subscale versions of the Return Module of the TKS. Cosmonauts would transfer the samples to Raduga,which would separate from the docking node on Kristall and be guided to a controlled landing in a recovery zone near Omsk. With recovered materials from space new industries could be opened up.  
  
Our technicians have identified many potential subordinate missions for Energia:  
  


  * Use of the Znamya solar sail for polar crop illumination,and potentially as a testbed for interplanetary missions in the future
  * Disposal of nuclear waste in deep space beyond planetary orbits
  * The placement of space telescopes in Earth and lunar orbit
  * The use of a maneuverable,recoverable satellite to collect space debris and return it to Earth
  * Deployment of large probes to the planets
  * Launch of modules to service the potential Mir 2 space station




	9. Two actresses

Lavender Brown was born on September 29,1986 in Santa Monica, California as Lavender Brielle Brown. She is an actress and producer, known for The Girl on the Train (2012), Love It or List (2011) and The King's Speech (2009). She has been married to James Burt since June 25,2010.  
  
Brown’s first serious role was in _The Cape,_ as Barbara DeSantos’ (Bobbi Phillips) adoptive daughter Cara,a role she played from 1998 to 2004. After leaving the show,she had a guest role on the penultimate season of _Friends_ as Jill Haussmann,a bartender who befriends Ross and helps him seek alcohol counseling. She played Berkeley Rhodes in the 2007 film adaptation of Allen Steele’s 1993 novel _The Tranquillity Alternative.  
_  
Her more recent roles include English teacher Ellie Goodwyn in _Glee_ (seasons 4-5) and Lady Alerie Tyrell in _A Song of Ice and Fire._ She was quite surprised to learn in 2004 that she shares a name with a Harry Potter character.  
  
————  
  
Hannah Abbott was born on April 14, 1988 in Seattle, Washington, USA as Hannah Kathlyn Abbott. She is an actress, known for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1 (2014), Gravity (2013) and Hunger Games (2011). She has been married to Joe Condon since June 4, 2015. They have three children.


	10. When the Wall fell

_All times Berlin local,except where noted  
_  
August 16,1986  
  
Erich Honecker announces his resignation due to health issues  
  
November 21,1986  
  
Dissolution of the Iron Curtain  
  
December 5,1986  
  
East German government announces limited wall crossing options  
  
December 22,1986  
  
The new crossing options take effect  
  
December 26-28,1986  
  
Massive demonstrations in East Germany  
  
January 7,1987  
  
Round trip crossings begin to take place  
  
January 13,1987  
  
8:42 pm - change of shift at Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (hereafter MfS)  
  
9:49 pm - moonrise  
  
10:15 pm - suspicious car clears the Wall defense at Teltow  
  
10:34 pm - car reaches State Security office at Charlottenburg  
  
10:35 pm - passengers admitted into office  
  
11:54 pm - press conference called  
  
January 14,1987  
  
3:00 am - press conference in MfS auditorium  
  
5:00 am - moonset  
  
5:25 am - MfS shift change  
  
5:30 am - Wall stories break on all German TV networks  
  
6:36 am - sunrise  
  
7:02 am - increased civilian activity near US embassy  
  
7:25 am - autocade at Schoneberg holds up local traffic  
  
7:58 am - protests outside of MfS headquarters  
  
8:15 am - Egon Krenz arrives at MfS  
  
9:06 am - Guard shift change at the Wall  
  
9:45 am - West German TV breaks into live coverage of the Wall  
  
10:20 am - protestors arrive within visual range of the Wall  
  
10:34 am - scuffle at Pankow guard station  
  
10:39 am - light rainfall  
  
11:58 am - protestors take over Pankow and Hellensdorf guard stations  
  
12:24 pm - protest has reached a fever pitch  
  
2:05 pm - protestors are standing on the Wall proper  
  


—————

 **14 January 1987, 11:25 EST  
The White House  
**  
Ronald Reagan could only stare incredulously at Yuri Dubinin,for nearly a year now the Soviet ambassador to the USA. “So you’re telling me that there’s now so much trouble in Berlin that they’re about to tear the Wall down? Krenz must be having kittens.”  
  
“Mr.President,that is the truth. Turn on your CNN,and you will see.”  
  
Reagan turned on the TV,allowing it its customary half minute to warm up. When it did warm up,to CBS,there was some reporter interviewing a West German official. He channel hopped to CNN,currently showing a live feed from a helicopter orbiting over Pankow. There are hundreds,no,thousands of protestors,swarming like ants about a police station,holding signs Reagan couldn’t see.  
  
“Mr.Ambassador,what are they yelling?”  
  
“Berlin wird frei sein! Reiss die Mauer ein! ‘Berlin will be free! Tear the Wall down!”  
  
“Has your own government responded to this yet? I can hardly believe Mikhail Sergeyevitch would just let it slide.”  
  
“An amusing idiom. But no instructions have been issued to any of our consulates,at least not when I last got off the phone.”  
  
‘I’ll call him myself if I have to.”  
  
“Couldn’t you let Secretary Shultz handle this?”  
  
“You know George almost as well as me. He’d start out well,but he’d mangle things as time passed. I’ll wait till the weekend,see how this pans out.”  
  
Dubinin left the room. _Sometimes,it seems like the Americans are like us. Many politicians back home also dither over their problems. Americans,Soviets,British,German,it’s almost all the same.  
  
—————  
_  
By nightfall,the various groups of protestors had reached a consensus. The Wall needed to be demolished. A group of disgruntled Army tankers offered their services. So did the majority of the Corps of Sappers.  
  
At about 9:00,the procedure began. Several warning klaxons were sounded on the West Berlin side,warning civilians to evacuate to a safe distance of about 2000 feet. Then plastic explosives were placed beneath all but two of the guard stations. The guards themselves were also evacuated.  
  
At midnight,eight-hour timers were set. Throughout the night,a tension held in Berlin. USAF jets patrolled the airspace above the Wall. Checkpoint Charlie was abandoned at 3:50. The end was near.  
  
At 8:10 am,with the morning fog having not yet been burnt off by the Sun,a boom rolled across the city of Berlin. Here’s how Gunther Saltzmann,an author living in West Berlin,recalled events in 2015:

“I was in my apartment when the stroke fell. My brother,who had guarded and tended to the wires on our side of the wall,was back home,one of the last to evacuate the wall. He was asleep,but the explosion woke him up. He gave a start and almost reached for his rifle  
  
My fiancée,Alicia,told me that it was like the Sun had exploded on the horizon. I heard it in my bedroom,trying to write out a scene for a short story I was writing at the time,a tale of Frankish life in the days of Charlemagne. It never got published.  
  
When I finally looked out of our window,I saw smoke and steam rising into the sky. It was like the ascent of Jesus must’ve looked to his followers. Alicia turned on the TV,and tuned it to the BBC. Their German correspondent,Jon Snow,was reporting live from London. ‘It’s happened. My God,it’s finally happened. The Wall is down. Germany may-will-be united once more. This is the best day of my life.’  
  
Whatever happens,I know I will never forget January 15,1987.”

————-

 **15 January 1987, 08:00 EST  
**  
“Three,two,one,you’re on the air,Mr.President.”  
  
Reagan took a deep breath and launched into his speech. He’d had to think of his topic on the fly.  
  
“My fellow Americans,seven hours ago,an event of great import to our times happened. Via a series of underground explosives,the Berlin Wall,that potent symbol of division between West and East,was destroyed. No longer is Berlin,that city of contention,divided. There is now no West or East Berlin. The city stands together once more. Somewhere up there,John F.Kennedy is smiling on this turn of events. I have little doubt that if he was still among us,he would be pleased.  
  
But the Berlin Wall,divisive as it was,was only a physical wall. There are still many walls,political,economical,and moral,that stand between us and our fellow superpower. Bulgaria,Romania,the Baltic states,Ukraine,Kazakhstan,and the rest still remain under Moscow’s thumb,directly or indirectly. They deserve freedom of action, and a place of their own in the international spotlight. We welcome the day when they are once more free from Moscow’s shadow. There is one man who can deliver them that freedom.  
  
General Secretary Gorbachev,if you seek peace and prosperity,for Russia and her bloc,if you seek the freedom and liberalization you say your country needs,if you seek a better tomorrow for our world,come here to Washington. Come to us,and help our nations negotiate a new peace,a peace to warm this Cold War. Mr.Gorbachev,when you can,please tear down your walls!”


	11. February-April 1987

NEW CREW ARRIVES AT MIR, FUTURE OF STATION UNDER REVIEW  
  
\- The New York Times, 2/7/87  
  
KRENZ GIVES PRESS CONFERENCE ABOUT FUTURE OF BERLIN  
  
\- NYT, 2/18/87  
  
John Glenn Celebrates 25th Anniversary of Historic Spaceflight, Ponders Future  
  
\- JSC Roundup, 2/22/87  
  
  
STS-27,29,30,32 CREWS ANNOUNCED  
  
\- Los Angeles Times, 3/6/87  
  
SAGANSKY MOOTS ‘I DREAM OF JEANNIE’ REVIVAL  
  
\- People, 3/14/87  
  
VOYAGER 2 CORRECTS COURSE FOR NEPTUNE FLYBY  
  
\- Times of London, 3/19/87  
  
AN INTERVIEW WITH DR.NORMAN IVERSON  
  
\- NYT Review of Books, April 1987  
  
————  
  
Kvant 1,the first add-on module for Mir,launched on 1 April 1987 after a 24 hour delay. Shortly after its Proton booster was erected at Launch Site 81,during final inspections,a trash bag was found snarled in Kvant’s docking collar. This could’ve had a deleterious effect on the docking.  
  
Kvant docked at Mir on 8 April. Its first approach,two days before,had been scrubbed after a problem developed in its onboard attitude control computer. Cosmonauts Romanenko and Laveikin opened Kvant up on 10 April. The next day,its service module undocked,burning up in the atmosphere in November 1991.  
  
During Mir’s operational life (April 1987-February 1998),Kvant 1 was primarily used for docking of Progress cargo resupply space ships,for astronomy using its onboard X-ray telescope,and for storage of onboard cargo.  
  
————  
  
OBITUARY:R.J.BARDO  
  
\- Arizona Daily Star, 4/26/87  
  
CEAUSESCU RESIGNS!  
  
\- Times of London, 4/28/87


	12. Problems and solutions

**15 May 1987, 22:45 MoST  
TsUP Flite Control Room #11  
**  
“What do you mean,it’s gyrating?”,Russell Schweickart asked Mihail Valudy.  
  
“On the third orbit,we were undergoing acquisition at Yevpatoria Ground Station. At that time,at 20:06,the vehicle was oriented with its left solar array facing toward the Earth. Its antenna was locked on the Cosmos 1700 satellite since the crew on Mir is asleep. At 20:14 we commanded the DzH thrusters on that side to fire for continual orientation maneuver.  
“And they fired,yes?”  
“Yes. At 20:18,the onboard computer cut off the thrusters. Then we switched on the horizon sensors and used the manual command to simulate a reboot. At 20:34,we noticed an oscillation by the Sun sensor,and it was then orbital sunrise. Since then,the vehicle is at an attitude of +60 degrees in pitch,oscillating around the roll and yaw axes.”  
“Why not use the gyroscopes for attitude control?”  
“I never considered that! We will have to do so.”  
———-  
  
The vehicle in question was the Kazachok earth observations test satellite. Basically the planned Polyus payload but reworked for civilian purposes,Kazachok was orbited by the first Energia rocket at 16:48 Moscow Time on 15 May 1987. It observed geological and meteorological conditions on Earth from 16 May to 4 February 1993. Its orbit decayed on 30 November 2001.  
  
————-  
  
At 01:27,as the spacecraft again passed over the USSR,its manual gyroscopes began orientating it. The spacecraft was placed ‘perpendicular’ to its ground track so its solar panels could recharge. At 04:00,ground control announced that they had a working spacecraft. The science mission of Kazachok could begin in earnest.  
  
On 22 May 1987,former astronaut Russell Schweickart was named NASA Representative to the Soviet space industry,an important first step in relations between the two programs.  
  
The problems had been actually caused by Kazachok’s onboard clock. Thinking that there was to be an orbital insertion burn,the clock had commanded an additional set of insertion maneuvers. A complete computer reboot on 18 May solved the problem in its entirety. The next time an Energia rocket flew,the age of Buran would commence.


	13. James Michener’s Space

Cast:

  * James Garner as Norman Grant
  * Tommy Lee Jones as Randy Claggett
  * Gates McFadden as Penny Pope
  * Joe Pesci as John Pope
  * Derek Jacobi as Leopold Strabismus
  * Robert Duvall as Stanley Mott
  * Eddie Murphy as Paul Linley
  * Geena Davis as Debbie Dee Claggett
  * Beau Bridges as Henry ‘Hickory’ Lee
  * Klaus Kinski as Dieter Kolff
  * Molly Ringwald as Marcia Grant



Episodes:  
  


  1. Four Men - June 3,1987
  2. Four Women - June 17,1987
  3. Korea - June 30,1987
  4. Edwards - July 8,1987
  5. Pax River - July 15,1987
  6. Strabismus - July 21,1987
  7. Sputnik - July 22,1987
  8. Explorer - July 29,1987
  9. Intellectual Devisions - August 6,1987
  10. Mercury - August 13,1987
  11. Saturn - August 20,1987
  12. Training - August 27,1987
  13. Twins - September 5,1987
  14. 1966 - September 12,1987
  15. Gemini 13 - September 19,1987
  16. Apollo - September 26,1987
  17. Earthrise - October 3,1987
  18. The Year of Apollo - October 10,1987
  19. Eagle - October 17,1987
  20. Moonwalk - October 24,1987
  21. Apollo 12 - November 1,1987
  22. Successful Failure - November 8,1987
  23. Recovery - November 15,1987
  24. Proposals - November 24,1987
  25. Mariner - November 30,1987
  26. Exploration at its Greatest - December 6,1987
  27. Realtime Data - December 13,1987
  28. Midnight Sunrise - December 20,1987
  29. Apollo 18 - January 8,1988
  30. Scandal - January 15,1988
  31. Launch - January 22,1988
  32. Translunar - January 29,1988
  33. Darkside - February 5,1988
  34. Radiation - February 12,1988
  35. Loss of Signal - February 20,1988
  36. A Man Alone - February 27,1988
  37. Homecoming - March 5,1988
  38. Buried in Peace - March 12,1988
  39. Skylab - March 19,1988
  40. Retirement - March 26,1988
  41. Earth Resources - April 3,1988
  42. Dangerous Liaisons - April 10,1988
  43. Viking - April 17,1988
  44. Crusade - April 24,1988
  45. Bicentennial - May 1,1988
  46. Approach - May 7,1988
  47. Voyager - May 14,1988
  48. The End of the Decade - May 21,1988
  49. Interkosmos - May 28,1988
  50. Shuttle - June 5,1988
  51. STS-1 - June 12,1988
  52. The Rings of Saturn - June 19,1988
  53. Repeat Flight - June 26,1988
  54. Test Flights - July 4,1988
  55. Operational - July 11,1988
  56. Spacewalk - July 18,1988
  57. Sally Ride - July 25,1988
  58. Spacelab - August 1,1988
  59. Triskaidekaphobia - August 7,1988
  60. Solar Max - August 14,1988
  61. Abort - August 21,1988
  62. Reflight - August 28,1988
  63. Rescue - September 19,1988
  64. Classified - October 2,1988
  65. The Professor and the Senator - October 16,1988
  66. Flyswatting - October 30,1988
  67. Spacelab 3 - November 14,1988
  68. The Prince of Space - November 29,1988
  69. TAL - December 11,1988
  70. Syncom - December 23,1988
  71. Atlantis - January 20,1989
  72. Cooperation - January 27,1989
  73. EASE ACCESS - February 4,1989
  74. Delays - February 11,1989
  75. January 1986 - February 18,1989
  76. Tragedy - February 25,1989
  77. Recriminations - March 9,1989
  78. Investigations - March 16,1989
  79. A Quiet Year - March 23,1989




	14. A BSC interlude

**The Babysitters Club** was an American live-action TV show derived from Ann M.Martin’s children’s novel series of the same name. The show originally aired on HBO from August 1988 to May 1992,entering syndication in April 1990.  
  
 **Info**  
  
Written by Ann M.Martin and Toni Edwards  
Directed by Chase Browne  
Theme “Say Hello to Your Friends”  
# of seasons 4  
# of episodes 61  
Original network HBO  
Original release August 14,1988-June 2,1992  
  
Main Cast  
  
Avriel Hillman as Kristy Thomas  
Tricia Joe as Claudia Kishi  
Amy Danles as Mary Anne Spier  
Meghan Andrews as Mallory Pike  
Maria Slater as Jessie Ramsey  
Anna Faris as Dawn Schafer  
Jessica Prunell as Stacey McGill  
Meghan Lahey as Marguerite ‘Cokie’ Mason  
Cole Hauser as Logan Bruno  
Tony Goldwyn as Watson Brewer


	15. Chiefs of the Astronaut Office

  1. Deke Slayton (September 1962-November 1963)
  2. Alan Shepard (November 1963-September 1969)
  3. Tom Stafford (September 1969-October 1972)
  4. John Young (November 1972-March 1991)
  5. Vance Brand (March 1991-July 1995)
  6. Robert ‘Hoot’ Gibson (July 1995-April 2002)
  7. Ronald Sega (April 2002-March 2006) First mission specialist to serve as chief
  8. Eileen Collins (March 2006-July 2010) First female chief
  9. James Halsell (July 2010-April 2015)
  10. Piers Sellers (April 2015-August 2019)
  11. Gus Loria (August 2019-June 2024)
  12. Shannon Thomas (June 2024-?)




	16. A pair of astronautical anecdotes

Of course,I was pretty lucky to be selected in 1987. That was a prime year for mission specialist selection,you see. Me,Mike Foale,Jim Voss,Ellen Ochoa,Mae Jemison,Mike Fossum.......they’re really the ones you should talk to. Being one of the first people to fly into space seven times has to count for something,however,and on some of the most science-oriented space missions there were....  
  
\- Don Pettit, July 8,2019  
  
....The history of the modern astronaut corps can be considered to begin with the selection of the GAFFers in 1987. One of the bigger astronaut groups to date (24), they arrived at JSC in September 1987 and proceeded to take the place by storm. The GAFFers included such as JSC systems engineer Michael Fossum,who proceeded to modernize the computer systems at JSC, or Eileen Collins and James Halsell,two future Chief Astronauts (and the former was the first woman pilot of a Space Shuttle),or Dave Wolf,the two-time ISS commander and commander of the Orion 10 circumlunar mission. Even more than 30 years down the line,the shadow of the GAFFers still looms over the Astronaut Office.  
  
Of course,I can admit to being a bit biased myself,having flown with Claude Nicollier (one of the two foreign GAFFers) on the HST closeout mission,but still I can admire them,can’t I? And I’ve flown to the ISS with Rick Husband and to the Moon with Kerri Strug,so I guess almost anything can happen!  
  
\- Kali McFarland, _The New Right Stuff:The Astronaut Corps in the Modern Day,_ 2026


	17. Another pop culture piece

**Return of the Six Million Dollar Man (and Bionic Woman)**  
  
Aired December 28,1987 on NBC, marked the return of Steve Austin and Jaime Sommers to TV  
  
Cast  
Lee Majors as General Steve Austin, newest director of OSI  
Lindsay Wagner as Jaime Sommers, OSI operative  
Richard Anderson as Oscar Goldman, former OSI Director and current Secretary of Defense  
Martin Brooks as Dr Rudy Wells, former OSI specialist and current astronaut, Chief Capcom for the _Orbiter 105_ mission  
Harrison Ford as President Luke Van Meter  
DeForest Kelley as Colonel Alexander Ellis, Administrator of NASA  
Mark Harmon as James Wilberforce, commander of _Orbiter 105_  
Emily Longstreth as Allison Johnson, the mission’s pilot  
Robert Culp as Charlie McGuire, mission specialist  
Jeff Hoffman as himself, flight engineer   
Charles Dance as Colonel Thomas May, payload specialist in charge of the _Hermes 4_ military satellite  
Walter Koenig as Admiral Gregor Voronov, Director-General of SMERSH  
Timothy Dalton as Mishael Drúvil, his henchman (impersonating mission specialist Andrew Jackson Chesney)  
  
The movie’s plot centers around a Soviet attempt to hijack the first flight of Challenger’s replacement shuttle on a mission to deploy a British military satellite.


End file.
